


Back in the Action

by reeby10



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, POV Maria Hill, Spies & Secret Agents, secret meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-06-05 09:18:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6699019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reeby10/pseuds/reeby10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She arrived at the meeting point, a dark corner of a park that was usually empty at this time on a weeknight, ten minutes early but she was fairly certain she wasn’t the first one there. A quick glance around the area showed nothing, though she knew better than to trust that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Back in the Action

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scribblemyname](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribblemyname/gifts).



> Gift for scribblemyname for Marvel is Marvel 2016. I hope you like it!
> 
> This is set somewhere vaguely after AoU with inspiration from AoS and backstory from TWS. Maria and Natasha are two of my fave MCU characters, so it was fun to try to work both of them into something, especially something more outside of the action.
> 
> Thanks to Biff for the beta!

Maria shut her computer down at precisely seven o’clock, just like she did every other day. She packed up her files and grabbed her purse before heading toward the door without a glance left or right. She picked up her usual shadows as she left the building, but as always, ignored them.

Since coming to work at Stark Industries, she’d been very careful not to create any kind of schedule for where she went after work. It made it much harder for them to catch on when she slipped them for a clandestine meeting. Plus it was kind of fun to watch them scramble when she slipped out of their view, and she had to find her fun somewhere. It wasn’t like work gave her much of a laugh, especially these days.

Slipping away for a clandestine meeting was exactly what she had planned for today. She walked for a while down the street until she saw her chance, stepping right into the middle of a rowdy group of tourists and darting down a side alley. The crowd blocked the view of her movements, and it was only a matter of moments before she was free from her tail.

She arrived at the meeting point, a dark corner of a park that was usually empty at this time on a weeknight, ten minutes early but she was fairly certain she wasn’t the first one there. A quick glance around the area showed nothing, though she knew better than to trust that. Content to wait, she settled down on a bench, eyes and ears peeled for any hint of movement or sound.

Despite her best efforts, she didn’t notice anything until Natasha was sitting next to her on the bench. She turned to see a smug smile on the other woman’s face and rolled her eyes. “Good to see you, Natasha.”

“You too, Maria,” Natasha replied. “You know the team could still use a real handler. If you dropped your cover…”

“You know I can’t do that yet,” Maria said, shaking her head. “Besides, I’m not sure I could handle dealing with all of you all the time. Just working in the same building as Stark is bad enough.”

Natasha laughed. “Couldn’t handle it or don’t want to? You do know Tony’s not on the team right now.”

“Don’t want to,” Maria admitted, smiling a little. “I’d rather deal with Hydra infiltrations and all that. And you know as well as I do that where Rhodes goes, Stark likes to hang around.”

“Does that mean you’re dealing with a Hydra infiltration right now?” Natasha perked up, suddenly looking much more interested. “At Stark Industries?”

“Not an infiltration yet, but a group of them came in to meet with Pepper today and offer a business relationship,” Maria replied. She reached into an inner pocket of her jacket and pulled out a flash drive. “Pepper marched them right out, but I managed to get some information, including cloning a couple of phones. I think your team will be interested, so I thought I’d pass it on before my next debrief with Fury. Hell if I know when that will be with the way he’s been crossing the globe lately.”

Natasha took the drive, flipping it back and forth between her fingers for a moment before secreting it away. “Thanks,” she said, relaxing back onto the bench. “Are you going to tell me why it was so important to get this to me today instead of our usual monthly exchange, or should I wait to see what’s on the drive?”

“I can give you the broad picture, but you should get it to your team as soon as possible. Some of it’s time sensitive,” Maria said. She grimaced a little, remembering what was on the drive. “They’re doing experiments, like the ones in Sokovia.”

“Wanda’s going to want to know,” Natasha said immediately, staring out into the darkness of the park outside their little circle of light. “And Vision. They’re sensitive to that kind of thing, not that I blame them.”

Maria nodded. “I know. That’s why I wanted your team to have this information first.”

“I’ll get it to Steve as soon as possible. We should be able to move by midnight if all goes well, but let me know if you hear anything before then.” Natasha smiled, a little tight and bitter, and turned back to look at Maria. “Thank you for getting this. I know Fury has you working on other projects while you’re working for Stark.”

“I do what I can,” Maria replied with a shrug. In truth, it was getting a little overwhelming being there alone while SHIELD was still stuck in limbo, but being able to pass on information like this made it worth it.

They talked for a while longer, exchanging what other information they could and gossiping, mostly about Stark and the new Avengers team. Despite her reservations about being their handler, she was still interested in hearing how they were doing. They were a powerful lot, and she wanted to be sure she and Fury and the rest of the remnants of SHIELD could count on them when needed, or at least be on the frontline if things went bad again.

Their conversation wrapped up right on time, information exchanged and Maria certain the team would take on the tip she’d given them. It was good to feel like she was doing something more again than just filing papers and filling out spreadsheets. She knew that wouldn’t be forever, she wouldn’t let it be, but getting back in the action even a little was a relief.

“I think I hear your shadows,” Natasha said, straightening her leather jacket as she stood. “I guess that’s my cue to go.”

“Unfortunately they always seem to catch up, even if they’re easy enough to slip in the first place,” Maria replied with a small smile. “Take care of yourself. Keep me updated on what the team does with the information on the drive.”

“Will do.” Without another word, Natasha slipped off into the shadows so quickly that Maria almost didn’t see her go.

Maria sat back against the bench, pulling a sheaf of papers from her bag. A few moments later, several men entered her little clearing, guns drawn. She looked up slowly and gave them her best unimpressed stare, biting back a smile when a few of the men wilted at the look.

“Came to disturb me in the park?” she asked, looking back her papers. They were just normal boring accounting files, but it was better than watching the men fumble. They were kind of pathetic. “Took you long enough to catch up, I’d wondered if you got lost. New York streets can be confusing for some people.”

**Author's Note:**

> Concrit welcome. If you like my fic, feel free to come hit me up [on tumblr](http://voldiebuns.tumblr.com/)!


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